Three Brothers, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
Our beach vacations have predominantly been in the winter, usually around Christmas time, which makes this beach trip a little bit different. In the winter, you can be out on the beach all day long and never once get hot. You're lucky if it's warm enough to wear swimwear and catch some sun. But in the summer, it's really, really hot during the day.
After the long drive and the early bedtime, we all slept in on our first full day at the beach. The twins slept until nearly 10 o'clock, which is quite unheard of in our world. Clearly they had missed some sleep on the drive, too.
Our first day was kind of a lazy one. Three little boys kept staring out the balcony doors, longing to get out onto the sand and into the water. The rest of us were a little more hesitant. We spent our first full day lounging in the room. We also went ahead and planned our meals for the week so we could make our grocery list and get that trip out of the way (we had brought basic essentials from home, so we could skip it on arrival day).
After our grocery run, it was time for dinner. And finally, after that when the sun was already sinking low in the inlet behind our condo, and when most of the heat of the day was already gone, we took all three boys down for their first adventure on the beach. They all LOVED it. The twins were not terribly excited about those first toes going into the dry sand, but they overcame it. We just started walking them down toward the water, and they were all eager to get there.
Grandpa and I had our hands full keeping eyes and arms on all of them. Sawyer, with his new found fearlessness in the water (even water above his head), was the most dangerous. He wanted to swim in the ocean, and instead of standing in the surf like most of us do, he kept letting the waves take his feet out from under him so he could try to float. Xander would run in and out, sometimes getting knocked over and not very happy about it. Connor was the one we kept having to call back, because he wanted to drift further and further out with the big waves. And while he can swim, it's quite different to swim in a calm pool versus as constantly moving and crashing ocean.
We spent quite a while on the beach. The boys didn't even seem to mind the sand or the salt, which sometimes assaults their senses. Xander sat in the wet sand, letting waves crash over him and sand and salt cover him. He also picked up wet handfuls and tossed them everywhere (until Grandma got after him for it). Sawyer was happiest in the water, but didn't seem to mind the sand. Connor was all over, sometimes letting waves carry him into the sand and other times splashing in the waves.
It took quite a while to shower off, but after the beach we made another stop at the pool. We spent another few hours there. Xander enjoyed jumping off the side - over and over and over. Sawyer used his new found swimming skills to move all over the pool without any help. Connor was jumping and swimming and all over the place, as usual.
So while the room and grocery shopping were low on the boys' priorities, the beach and the pool more than made up for it. Unfortunately for them, we'll probably be doing a lot more of the late evening beach and pool trips. It's just too hot in the middle of the day, and I don't think it would be fun for any of us!
Silhoutte, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
The boys could look, but just not touch. That's fair, right?
Actually, we needed the boys to sit still and be good while the rest of us brought stuff inside and got organized after a very long fifteen hour car ride. Grandma and Grandpa invited the boys and I along for a week at the beach before school started (Daddy unfortunately had to stay home and work). We all left at midnight on Friday, drove through the night, and made it to the beach about 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon.
It was a long, long drive. The boys slept pretty well through the night, which was our plan, but the last few hours in all of us had our moments.
And the boys really did just look at the beach the first day. We were all pretty exhausted after our late night journey with only a few stolen moments of sleep. Grandpa and I took turns driving, and Grandma kept three little boys in line from the back.
And though we didn't venture out to the beach just yet - it's extremely hot and we're still tired - we did take the boys down to the pool last night (see photos here). All three wanted to stay all night long. We spent a few hours before we made them get out and head back upstairs for a bite to eat and bath before an early bed time. We all needed it.
Now we have the rest of the week to alternate between the sensory heaven (or landmine, depending on who you're talking about) of the beach and the swimming pool. I would be a bit more excited about the pool, except this particular pool has salt water filtration, so it's pretty much all the same.
We have sun and water, so we're all set for the week.
Time to Eat?, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
If only he knew how quickly it was about to end ... he would be much happier to be spending the afternoon outside in the back yard pool. Two more weeks until school starts, but it's not on his radar yet. Reality will crash into all of the boys pretty hard. No more lazy days of swimming and snacking and playing computer. So it goes ...
Mommy's Helper, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
A little bit, anyway.
Last weekend, Uncle Brian was nice enough to pick up some tasty fresh vegetables for us at the local farmer's market. He gets up early, and we, sadly, do not. So he brought us some fresh green beans and fresh corn on the cob from the market, along with some tasty samples from his own back yard garden - tomatoes, banana peppers, cucumbers and a host of spices (fresh bruschetta, anyone?).
Today I decided to break out a few of the fresh veggies for dinner. Connor, as always, was excited to help in the kitchen. We got most of the stuff ready just after lunch, so it would be ready in time for our dinner tonight. I started out by making some good, Southern "refrigerator pickles" with the cucumbers. I did the dicing, and Connor put them all into the bowl. Next up was green beans. We rinsed them all off with cold water, then got them ready to simmer all day. Connor helped me "break" them, getting rid of the ends and putting the bite-size pieces into the pot. We added some bacon grease (of course) and some onion before covering them with water and putting them on the stove. Last was the corn, but we left it until about an hour out. Connor helped me "shuck" it over the trash can (it was still pretty messy with my little helper).
Connor tried everything. He kept telling me how good the "farmer's market corn" was every few bites. He ate four pieces (they were halved, so two full ears of corn). Clearly he liked it. The extra butter and salt probably helped. He even ate most of his green beans, though he's not generally a fan of them. He tried one of the chilled cucumber slices, and even ate the whole thing, but it was clearly not his favorite. He didn't want seconds.
The twins, of course, would touch none of it. It was unfamiliar and therefore unacceptable. Xander wouldn't even try the green bean, and it's normally one of the only vegetables he will eat. He looked at the corn on the cob (corn is usually his favorite vegetable), but wouldn't eat it off the cob. He had a healthy dinner of applesauce, grapes and popcorn (don't ask, he always wants popcorn for some reason).
And Sawyer, the stinker, slept through dinner. This does not bode well for going to bed tonight, or getting up tomorrow. It certainly does not bode well for our upcoming trip (think fourteen hours in a car) tomorrow night. Like I said, stinker.
So that was our foray into fresh eating. Connor and I enjoyed it. Xander passed, and Sawyer didn't even know anything about it. Unfortunately Daddy missed out. He's working at the fire station today, and since we're leaving tomorrow, we couldn't wait for him to get home to sample the goodies. We did, however, leave him plenty to fix for himself while we're gone.
Silly Bandz, a photo by here we wander on Flickr.
Sometimes the walls start to close in, especially late in to summer vacation. This week Xander discovered big brother's stash of Silly Bandz, and clearly there are quite a few. Xander decided to make quite the fashion statement with them. Until they started to cut off his circulation. And they didn't want to come off very easily. He was slightly pissed about it. Not that it stopped him from doing it over and over again. We're all about routines in our house, you know.
